\nDespite that worry, I cannot stop standing up for what is right. I cannot turn a blind eye to injustice. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
But during that time, something had changed in Trump. In the closing weeks of his administration, Trump\u2019s attorney general appointed John Durham as a Special Counsel to investigate the origins of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Durham\u2019s investigation ultimately led to the indictment of two individuals \u2014 one of whom was a law partner of mine. Both men were acquitted after short jury deliberations.<\/p>\n
Despite this outcome, Trump\u2019s anger only deepened. In 2022, he named me, along with many others associated with the 2016 campaign, as a defendant in a rambling RICO lawsuit. The complaint was so frivolous that when it was dismissed, several other defendants were able to recover attorneys\u2019 fees, leaving Trump and his lawyers on the hook for $1 million. Appeals in the case are still ongoing.<\/p>\n
When Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he would seek revenge and retribution, I knew to take him literally and seriously. When he came into office claiming he wanted to punish those who had \u201cweaponized government\u201d against him, I knew what he really meant \u2014 he would weaponize government against his political opponents.<\/p>\n
Then, two weeks ago, out of the blue, Trump issued an executive order against my old law firm \u2014 a firm I left in 2021 \u2014 centered largely on my work there. It was a wildly unhinged and unconstitutional order that sought to punish the firm and its 1,200 lawyers in a myriad of ways, from stripping security clearances to barring their lawyers from entering federal buildings.<\/p>\n
After signing that executive order, Trump was asked if he thinks additional steps will be taken \u201cagainst other people involved in the Russia collusion hoax.\u201d He responded: \u201cI do, but that is ultimately up to the attorney general and various other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In case Pam Bondi and her senior team needed a reminder of how Trump felt about me, they received one in person a week later. Speaking in the Great Hall at the Department of Justice, Trump described me and another lawyer as \u201cbad people, really bad people\u201d and \u201cradicals\u201d who were trying \u201cto turn America into a corrupt, communist, third-world country.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of this brings me back to my answer to the question I receive every day.<\/p>\n
I worry because Donald Trump has targeted me and those associated with me for retribution. I worry because the attorney general is an election denier eager to please her boss. I worry because the FBI director published an enemies list and has called me \u201can enemy of the Republican Party.\u201d I worry because the Department of Justice is being hollowed out \u2014 its principled career prosecutors replaced by Trump loyalists. I worry because Trump\u2019s hatred inspires the hatred of others, which could lead to violence. I worry because our courts are not equipped to handle widespread, politically motivated, spurious investigations and prosecutions.<\/p>\n
Most of all, I worry because, to do my job \u2014 to fulfill my duty as a lawyer and as a citizen \u2014 I must regularly say and do things that will enrage Trump and his supporters.<\/p>\n
But here is the key point: Despite that worry, I cannot stop standing up for what is right. I cannot turn a blind eye to injustice. I cannot ignore what Trump is doing to our democracy and our country. Or more precisely, I will not.<\/p>\n
So, I won\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Before the election, when Biden was in office and many assumed Kamala Harris would win or that Trump wouldn\u2019t be so bad, it was fashionable to speak about the threat Trump posed and the need to protect democracy.<\/p>\n
Now that Trump has proven to be a ruthless autocrat, too many have grown timid and silent.<\/p>\n
That is simply not who I am. It is not what I believe, and it is not what I will do.<\/p>\n
Instead, I will worry. I will hope. And I will fight.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
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